Chapter 14

White Supremacy Triumphant:

African Americans in the South in the Late 19th Century

I. Politics

End of Reconstruction Black men forced out of office Limited black participation in politics No power over white people Did not challenge white domination

African-American Representation in Congress, 1867–1900

Black men served in the U.S. Congress from Joseph Rainey’s election in 1870 until George H. White’s term concluded in 1901. All were Republicans.

Figure 14–1. African-American Representation in Congress, 1867–1900

Black Congressmen

Congressional districts Oddly shaped by Democrats Confined much of black population to one

district Usually represented by black Republican Diluted black political strength Wielded only limited power in Washington No significant legislation to benefit black

constituents

The Populist Party The People’s Party Serious challenge to Democrats and

Republicans Give government back to the people Supported radical changes: Government ownership: railroads, telegraph,

telephone Urged southern white and black men to join them Southern Democrats outraged over appeals to black

men Black voters in a position to tip the political scales Fraud, violence, and terror

Right to Vote

A rural black man “freely” exercises his right to vote.

SOURCE: Library of Congress

II. Disfranchisement

Undermining black political power Violence, intimidation, injustice Southern Democrats hoped to end black voting Sought ways to evade the Fifteenth Amendment

South Carolina - Eight Box Law Primitive literacy test requiring voters to

deposit separate ballots for separate election races in the proper ballot box.

Illiterate voters couldn’t identify the boxes unless white officials assisted them.

Mississippi Mississippi constitutional convention, 1890 Established voting requirements to disfranchise black men

without violating the Fifteenth Amendments Proof of residency Payment of all taxes, including a $2 poll tax Convictions Crimes associated with black people: arson, petty theft,

couldn’t vote Crimes associated with white people: murder, rape, could vote Literate - Understanding clause

» Black college graduates often failed

Louisiana

Grandfather Clause Permitted only those men who had

been eligible to vote before 1867, or their fathers or grandfathers to vote

Disfranchised almost all black voters at once

130,000 black men voted in 1896 1,342 black men voted in 1904

The Spread of Disfranchisement

Jim Crow Show character – Jump Jim Crow Thomas “Daddy” Rice, 1830s and 1840s Rice performed in black face - Ridiculed black

people Unclear how it came to mean segregation Segregation Evolved slowly to enforce white control Black people conformed Churches and social organizations Accepted separate seating in places previously

closed Segregation better than exclusion

Segregation of Railroads Conflict White southerners proximity to black people in public

places and on passenger trains created tensions Blacks with first-class tickets sent to second-class The first segregation laws involved passenger

trains Tennessee, 1881

– Florida, 1887 Railroads opposed Maintaining separate cars was too expensive

Enforcing SegregationTo enforce segregation on a railroad coach, a rather shabbily attired conductor evicts a well dressed black man from a first class coach so that he will not pose a danger to a white woman and her child.

Plessy v. Ferguson Louisiana required segregated trains, 1891 Railroads and black people object Challenged in court Homer A. Plessy U.S. Supreme Court, 8-1 decision Upheld state law--segregation--as constitutional, 1896 Justice John Marshal Harlan - Fourteenth

Amendment. “Separate but Equal” Jim Crow laws become embedded in southern states

Segregation Proliferates

Proliferation “White” and “colored” signs Restrooms, drinking fountains Separate Bibles for black and white witnesses Oklahoma required separate phone booths,

1915 School textbooks stored in separate facilities “Separate but equal”

• Inferior facilities or no facilities

IV. Racial Etiquette Black and white people did not shake hands Black people did not look directly into white peoples’

eyes Black people stared at the ground to address white

people Black men removed their hats; white men did not Black people went to the back door Black men or boys must never look at white women Black women could not try on clothing in white stores White people did not use titles of respect White customers always served first

Cool Down

Do you believe that the Plessy v. Ferguson was a constitutional decision? Explain.

For black southerners do you think that segregation or integration would’ve lead to a better life? Explain.

V. Violence

Rampant political and mob violence Washington County, Texas, 1886 Fight over ballot boxes in Republican precinct

White man dies in shotgun blast Eight black men arrested The Phoenix Riot, 1898 The Wilmington Riot, 1898 The New Orleans Riot, 1900

Lynching 3,745 recorded lynchings between

1889 and 1932. Many more were unrecorded

Most in the South Black men were the usual victims Presumed threat posed to white

women Community participation Few denunciations from white leaders Savage and brutal

Lynching in the United States: 1889–1932Figure 14–2. Lynching in the United States: 1889–1932

Depending on the source, statistics on lynching vary. It was difficult to assemble information on lynching, particularly in the nineteenth century. Not every lynching was recorded.

SOURCE: The Negro Year Book, 1931–32, p. 293.

Lynchings Were Common

Lynchings were common and public events in the South at the turn of the century. Often hundreds of people took part in and witnessed these gruesome spectacles.

Rape Abuse and harassment against black women No statistics

– But considered more common than lynching Black men tried to protect black women

– Refused to let them work as domestics for white men

White men considered black women inferior. – Believed that black women “invited white makes to take advantage of them.

Black women were not virtuous Coleman Blease S.C. Gov. – 1913 – “I am of the

opinion, as I have always been, and have very serious doubts as to whether the crime of rape can be committed upon a negro woman.”

VI. Migration

Late 19th century African Americans Ninety percent of black Americans lived in the

South, 1910 Emigrants 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s

– Africa– Kansas– Oklahoma– Arkansas

The Exodusters

Western migration Encouraged by the Homestead Act and railroads Between 1865-1880 All black towns in Kansas, Nebraska, Indian territory

Southern migration Many black people moved to southern villages Urban areas offered more economic opportunities

African-American Population of Western Territories and States, 1880–1900

Map 14–1. African-American Population of Western Territories and States, 1880–1900

Although most African Americans remained in the South following the Civil War, thousands of black people moved west and settled on farms and ranches. Others migrated to small towns that were populated mostly by former slaves.

VIII. African American and Southern Courts

“Three days for stealing, eighty-seven days for being colored”

Judges were white men Few black men served on juries Few convictions for crimes on black people Black people received larger fines than

white people, and longer sentences

Convict leasing

Using black convicts as laborers Lucrative enterprise States encouraged more arrests Businesses and planters leased convicts

Build railroads, drain swamps, cut timber Worse than slavery Blacks had no value at all Widespread scandal forced states to outlaw

leasing

Cool Down

Describe the quality of life for Black Southerners during this time period.